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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

A little over a year after Callie Wisecarver experienced a typical debut for a first-year golfer – a 71 at Pine Knolls on Aug. 22, 2022 – she posted a 48 at Oak Valley on Sept. 25.

It’s the stuff sports dreams are made of.

“It felt great to break 50,” Wisecarver said. “I’ve been trying to get there the last few matches. Seeing how much I have improved over just a year shocks me.”

Wisecarver did not play Davie golf as a freshman. She picked up the game as a sophomore and averaged a 65.5 score over eight nine-hole matches in 2022, with a season-best 57 at Salem Glen last October.

In the first five matches of her junior year, Wisecarver averaged 53.6, with a season-best 51 at Wilshire. She took her game to a new level at Oak Valley, shooting a 12-over 48, or six strokes better than her score in an earlier outing at Oak Valley.

Going from the 65.5 sophomore mark to 52.6 as a junior is no small thing.

“It’s been her goal to get under 50,” coach Bob Donley said. “She has really worked hard. She’s been dedicated to her practice routine. She takes lessons. She works at Colin Creek. I mean she’s sort of consumed with golf. It was really a good thing to see her finally reach that goal. I was happy to see her hard work pay off.”

Wisecarver accomplished the mission by parring or bogeying five of nine holes.

“And she shot 48 on what is arguably the hardest course in the CPC,” Donley said. “She told me before the round that she felt like today was the day that she was going to break 50.

“Consistent ball striking is the thing that has improved the most. When she hits it in the middle of the clubface … she’s a strong young lady and she’s as long as anybody out there. She’s out there at 200-plus (yards) off the tee. And her putting has gotten better as well.”

Wisecarver knew a magical moment was a possibility when she approached No. 3, her eighth hole of the day. But put her potential milestone in jeopardy by double-bogeying. That meant she needed at least a bogey on No. 4.

“I will admit I was so nervous,” she said. “(That double bogey) is when the pressure hit me.”

But on No. 4, Wisecarver blasted her drive in the fairway, hit the green in regulation, two-putted for par and basked in a dream ending.

“As I was approaching the tee box, my heart started beating really fast and I kept thinking to myself that I have to have a good tee shot for this to go smoothly,” she said. “The group in front of me was taking awhile, so I sat there and prayed to par that hole. I hit my tee shot like normal and hit it right down the fairway. I landed about 50 yards from the green and I was able to get it around 15 feet away with my 56-degree. I was really nervous about putting because my putting has been awful the last few days. But luckily I slowed down, took my time, analyzed the green and two-putted it.

“Right after I finished my round, I got a text from my coach congratulating me, and that’s when it really set in that I had accomplished something.”

Meanwhile, the War Eagles as a whole enjoyed their finest day of the season. After finishing fourth or fifth in the first five Central Piedmont Conference meets, they achieved third place (West Forsyth 118, Reagan 121, Davie 147, Reynolds 157, Mt. Tabor 158).

Kate Sakai (48) matched Wisecarver’s effort by recording par or bogey on six holes. The junior broke 50 for the third time in a row and the fourth time in five matches. Senior Sophia Garza turned in a season-best 51.